Phase Two: Graduate Research

During this phase of the training the student will design a doctoral-level research project, pass a qualifying exam demonstrating that he or she has the scholarly and intellectual capabilities signified by the awarding of a Ph.D. degree, complete the necessary laboratory research at the bench and prepare, present and defend the dissertation. Without a doubt, the most significant choice to be made by the trainee during his tenure at the Upstate Medical University is the selection of a mentor in whose laboratory the dissertation work will be carried out. All members of the graduate faculty are eligible to serve as mentors. That includes the members of the following Departments:

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Microbiology and Immunology
• Pharmacology
• Physiology
• Neuroscience

Faculty in the clinical departments are also eligible to serve as mentors if they are members of the graduate faculty and actively conducting research (i.e. Psychiatry and Neurosurgery).

There are many centers of excellence at Health Science Center, both in basic and clinically-oriented research. Accordingly, students may choose from laboratories that focus on basic biological processes to ones that conduct research that directly relates to the pathophysiology or treatment of disease. Indeed one of the strengths of the MD/PhD Program at Upstate Medical University is the breadth of choice available to the student. In addition to the choice of mentor, the students may have a choice of the department or program with which to affiliate, depending on the primary and secondary appointments of their thesis advisor.

There are some minor distinctions among the departments and programs that have an impact on this phase of the training, the most important of which, in terms of the prospective MD/PhD student, is the format for the qualifying exam. In an effort to reduce the length of time that the student spends in the graduate research phase of the program, the requirement that a doctoral candidate successfully complete 30 hours of didactic coursework in the graduate school is satisfied by courses taken during the MSI and MSII years.